Conflict management

By:

Muhammad Aleem

Conflict management

Topics discussed under are:

Conflict and conflict management. Causes of conflict. Sources of conflict. Types of conflict. How to resolve conflicts.

While no single definition of conflict exists, most definitions involve the following factors:

There are at least two independent groups:• the groups perceive some incompatibility between

themselves • the groups interact with each other in some way

conflict

Example definition: "process in which one party perceives that its interests

are being opposed or negatively affected by another party"

On the other hand…

Conflict management is the process of limiting the negative aspects of conflict while increasing the positive aspects of conflict. The aim of conflict management is to enhance learning and group outcomes, including effectiveness or performance in organizational setting. Properly managed conflict can improve group outcomes

Conflict management

Conflict may occur when:

A party is required to engage in an activity that is incongruent with his or her needs or interests.

A party holds behavioral preferences, the satisfaction of which is incompatible with another person's implementation of his or her preferences.

A party wants some mutually desirable resource that is in short supply, such that the wants of all parties involved may not be satisfied fully.

Causes of conflict

A party possesses attitudes, values, skills, and goals that are salient in directing his or her behavior but are perceived to be exclusive of the attitudes, values, skills, and goals held by the other(s).

Two parties have partially exclusive behavioral preferences regarding their joint actions.

Another cause of conflict is that because of Disagreement over the decisions.

Causes of conflicts

Two parties are interdependent in the performance of functions or activities.(Rahim, 2002, p. 207)

Different objectives of individual or groups Distribution of resources

Causes of conflict

When you think of the different types of conflict, you might instantly think of the ones referred to in literature, especially in fiction. They can be applied to real life, of course.

Conflict is classified into the following four types:

Types of conflict

Interpersonal conflict refers to a conflict between two individuals. This occurs typically due to how people are different from one another. We have varied personalities which usually results to incompatible choices and opinions. Apparently, it is a natural occurrence which can eventually help in personal growth or developing your relationships with others.

Interpersonal conflict

Styles of handling interpersonal conflict

Intrapersonal conflict occurs within an individual. The experience takes place in the person’s mind. Hence, it is a type of conflict that is psychological involving the individual’s thoughts, values, principles and emotions. Interpersonal conflict may come in different scales, from the simpler mundane ones like deciding whether or not to go organic for lunch to ones that can affect major decisions such as choosing a career path.

Intrapersonal conflict.

Intragroup conflict is a type of conflict that happens among individuals within a team. The incompatibilities and misunderstandings among these individuals lead to an intragroup conflict. It is arises from interpersonal disagreements (e.g. team members have different personalities which may lead to tension) or differences in views and ideas (e.g. in a presentation, members of the team might find the notions presented by the one presiding to be erroneous due to their differences in opinion)..

Intragroup conflict.

Within a team, conflict can be helpful in coming up with decisions which will eventually allow them to reach their objectives as a team. However, if the degree of conflict disrupts harmony among the members, then some serious guidance from a different party will be needed for it to be settled

Intragroup conflict

Intergroup conflict takes place when a misunderstanding arises among different teams within an organization. For instance, the sales department of an organization can come in conflict with the customer support department. This is due to the varied sets of goals and interests of these different groups. In addition, competition also contributes for intergroup conflict to arise. There are other factors which fuel this type of conflict. Some of these factors may include a rivalry in resources or the boundaries set by a group to others which establishes their own identity as a team.

Intergroup conflict.

The classification of conflict is often made on the basis of the antecedent conditions that lead to conflict. Conflict may originate from a number of sources, such as tasks, values, goals, and so on. It has been found appropriate to classify conflict on the basis of these sources for proper understanding of its nature and implications. Following is a brief description of this classification.

Sources of conflict

This occurs when two interacting social entities, while trying to solve a problem together, become aware that their feelings and emotions regarding some or all the issues are incompatible (Guetzkow & Gyr, 1954.Pelled et al. defined it as “a condition in which group members have interpersonal clashes characterized by anger, frustration, and other negative feelings”

01.Affective Conflict

This occurs when two or more organizational members disagree on their task or content issues. This type of conflict has also been labeled task conflict cognitive conflict and issue conflict.(Jehn (1997b) characterized this type of conflict as “disagreements among group members’ ideas and opinions about the task being performed, such as disagreement regarding an organization’s current strategic position or determining the correct data to include in areport”.

02.Substantive Conflict

This is defined as an inconsistency between two parties in their preferences for the allocation of a scarce resource. This type of conflict occurs “when each party, sharing the same understanding of the situation, prefers a different and somewhat incompatible solution to a problem involving either a distribution of scarce resources between them or a decision to share the work of solving it” (Druckman & Zechmeister, 1973, p. 450). The contention of managers A and B for the same vice president’s job exemplifies a conflict of interest

03. Conflict of Interest

This occurs when two social entities differ in their values or ideologies on certain issues (Druckman, Broome, & Korper, 1988). This is also called ideological conflict. The ideological disagreement of supervisors A and B on the question of “compensatory hiring” is an example of value conflict. Conflict between pro-life and pro-choice groups in connection with abortion is another example of conflict of values.

04. Conflict of Values

This occurs when a preferred outcome or an end-state of two social entities is inconsistent. In rare cases “it may involve divergent preferences over all of the decision outcomes, constituting a zero-sum game” (Cosier & Rose, 1977, p. 378). The understanding of managers A and B that only one of their preferred job design programs can be implemented for their division is an example of goal conflict.

05. Goal Conflict

The former is characterized by situations in which actors follow explicit rules and display predictable behavior, and their relationship has continuity, as in the case of line–staff conflict or labor–management negotiations. Most common conflict is non-institutionalized.

06. Institutionalized versus Non-institutionalized Conflict

This conflict is characterized by a situation where the conflicting entities feel the need for a drawn-out conflict to punish the opponent. In other words, each party determines its gains, in part, by incurring costs to the other party (Saaty, 1990, p. 49). Examples of retributive conflicts are Northern Ireland and Palestinian– Israeli conflicts and the Cold War between the former superpowers.

07. Retributive Conflict

This relates to the incorrect assignment of causes (behaviors, parties, or issues) to conflict (Deutsch, 1977). For example, an employee may wrongly attribute to his or her supervisor a cut in the employee’s department budget, which may have been done by higher-level managers over the protest of the supervisor.

08. Misattributed Conflict

This type of conflict occurs when the conflicting parties either direct their frustrations or hostilities to social entities who are not involved in conflict or argue over secondary, not major, issues (Deutsch, 1977).

09. Displaced Conflict

Giving up / withdrawal.

It is the poor way of management. It is the stop gap approach and does not solve the problem. It only temporarily delays the re-occurrence of problem.

Smoothing

It temporarily avoids the conflict by pleasing one or more parties involved in project. It also does not provide long lasting solutions.

Methods for Resolving Conflict

Forcing

If the individual wants to satisfy his own needs without giving any considerations to others needs then he is pursuing a strategy of forcing.

Compromising

It involves bargain between the disputing parties to reach on and an agreement acceptable to both parties. The disputing parties make trade of that often fall short of their original demands.

Method for Resolving conflict

Confronting / problem solving.

It is a method which requires participation of all the parties involved in conflict. It involves the open talk to identify the root cause of problem and joint effort to use problem solving techniques to resolves the disputes.

smoothing

Forcing

Giving up

compromising

Confronting

Value of relationship

Valu

e o

f ow

n

goals

Problem solving process

In 1970, a survey was conducts by Ronald Burkeys regarding 100 decisions that were made as a result of some conflict in different organization. The result of that survey is as under:

  Total % Effective % Un-effective %

Giving up/withdrawal 4.7 0 100

Smoothing 0.9 0 100

Forcing 51.9 23.6 76.4

Compromising 8.5 66.5 33.5

Confronting/problem solving 29.3 100 0

Steps for resolving conflict